From Omeleto.
A woman builds a perfect boyfriend.
THE PERFECT BOY is used with permission from Liz Waters. Learn more at https://instagram.com/hachachaproductions.
Daisy is sick of online dating — tired of bad dates, wasted time and lack of serious options. One night, she uses materials she finds around her house to mold together a "perfect boy" in a fit of sleep-deprived delusion To her surprise, her "magical thinking" works, and her best boyfriend arrives on the scene. He’s a good listener, caring, sensitive, affectionate and really into Daisy.
Daisy is thrilled and seemingly happy with her new boyfriend, much to her sarcastic roommate Emily’s skepticism. But once word gets out, their house is inundated with desperate women, eager for Daisy to magically make perfect boyfriends for them. In the tumult, Daisy realizes the limits of perfection, as well as her perfect boy’s very real faults.
Directed by Liz Waters from a script written by Alexandra Andreoni, who also plays the role of Daisy, this fun, lighthearted short comedy has a wry, knowing quality, as if winking about the ridiculousness of online dating and the way it can enable impossible romantic expectations. Brought to life with bright, fast-paced visuals, its clever, effervescent writing also pokes fun at the conventions of the romantic comedy film, complete with montages and acoustic guitar ballads. It all makes for a clever, entertaining watch that isn’t afraid to laugh at itself or at how our expectations have warped modern courtship.
The narrative starts with Daisy in a pit of exhaustion with online dating and going through a dark, manic night of the soul, portrayed by Andreoni with screwball energy. In her mania, Daisy manages to create a boy that fulfills all the items on her boyfriend wishlist — basically, a male version of herself, according to Emily, with appropriate opinions and steady, unwavering adoration. The film gathers momentum with the boyfriend’s arrival, played by actor Donato De Luca with solicitousness and just the right amount of self-satisfaction. Daisy jumps right into a relationship, thinking all her dreams have come true.
The boy is there to adore Daisy and be adored in return, but when things get hectic and then out-of-control, Daisy realizes that the boy might not be so perfect after all. As the storytelling careens to a funny, hectic conclusion, THE PERFECT BOY is a classic case of "Be careful what you ask for" because in getting it, Daisy realizes perfection is actually not so perfect after all. In the crisis, she realizes a real relationship isn’t just a constant stream of validation, but working together to create something real and durable. Now if she can just get the pack of crazed ladies at her door to realize it as well — though judging from their relentlessness, it might take awhile.
